TechSutram(/=1)

Load Testing Vs Stress Testing

2010-03-05T23:49:00.001+05:30

Similar to my previous posts, Differences IPv4 Vs IPv6 and Differences Routing Vs Routed protocol, below is difference between Load Testing and Stress Testing.

Load Testing	Stress Testing
Finds out application behavior under normal or predefined workload conditions	Finds out application behavior under extreme workload conditions
Does not aim to break application under test	Aims to find out breaking point for application under test
Finds out bugs such as memory leaks, buffer overflows	Finds out unpredictable issues that application might encounter
Ensures performance baseline established during performance testing.	Helps find out fault tolerance and recoverability for your application when it fails or breaks.
…	…

Its very basic but useful. I will be adding points to same post as and when necessary if required.

Whitepaper on “hacking oracle from the web”

2010-03-03T16:11:00.001+05:30

Last month 7safe blog has posted whitepaper about hacking oracle from the web. Document describes different techniques that can be used to attack Oracle from web.

It can be downloaded from this URL.
Direct link to this whitepaper on “hacking oracle from the web”.

Operation Aurora exploit in Google Attack

2010-01-26T19:30:00.001+05:30

As publicly disclosed by Google, an attack hit Google and other few companies, is now described as Operation Aurora. Why is this attack called Operation Aurora? A post titling, Operation Aurora: Clues in the Code at Secure works is good read. (If someone has more good reference then drop your comments below.)

A post at praetorianprefect.com has video that shows Aurora Exploit in action using metasploit.

Twitter is over capacity

2010-01-20T18:05:00.001+05:30

As usual, I was checking out my http://twitter/techsutram account and twitter presented me with surprising over capacity message.

Windows PowerShell – a free eBook from Microsoft

2010-01-20T09:22:00.001+05:30

Yesterday, one of my friends called me to ask if I have any book on Windows PowerShell. I told him that I don’t have any book on Windows PowerShell, however, I do remember that there is free eBook available from Microsoft. So below are the links for downloading Windows PowerShell eBook from Microsoft and its associated demo files.

Download Windows PowerShell eBook + Associated Demo files

Invalid disk device for 'cdsdisk’ error

2010-01-19T18:33:00.001+05:30

I was trying to setup shared storage between two VMs (Linux) for my virtual environment. Hence, I added another hard disk (or shared storage) between those two virtual boxes.

However, before creating VxVM DiskGroup, when I tried to initialize the shared storage (disk) that I configured between two VMs then one of the errors that surprised me was…

“VxVM vxdisksetup ERROR V-5-2-1814 sdb: Invalid disk device for 'cdsdisk'”

Below is list of CLIs that I used to circumvent this issue and create a DiskGroup...

--------------------------Start Of Shell-----------------------------------
[root@ts ~]# vxdisk -o alldgs list
DEVICE       TYPE            DISK         GROUP        STATUS
sda          auto:none       -            -            online invalid
sdb          auto:none       -            -            online invalid
[root@ts ~]# /etc/vx/bin/vxdisksetup -i sdb
VxVM vxdisksetup ERROR V-5-2-1814 sdb: Invalid disk device for 'cdsdisk' format
[root@ts ~]# vxdisk list sdb
Device:    sdb
devicetag: sdb
type:      auto
info:      format=none
flags:     online ready private autoconfig invalid
pubpaths: block=/dev/vx/dmp/sdb char=/dev/vx/rdmp/sdb
guid:      -
udid:
VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fts.ts.com%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdb
site:      -
Multipathing information:
numpaths:   1
sdb     state=enabled
[root@ts ~]# vxdctl enable
[root@ts ~]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 8589 MB, 8589934592 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1044 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id System
/dev/sda1   *           1          13      104391   83 Linux
/dev/sda2              14          78      522112+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/sda3              79        1044     7759395   83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 2147 MB, 2147483648 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 261 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id System
/dev/sdb4               1         259     2080386    5 Extended
[root@ts ~]# /usr/lib/vxvm/diag.d/vxscsi -g sdb
Cannot get disk geometry on sdb !
[root@ts ~]# /etc/vx/bin/vxdisksetup -i sdb format=sliced
[root@ts ~]# vxdg init dg01 sdb cds=off
[root@ts ~]# vxdisk -o alldgs list
DEVICE       TYPE            DISK         GROUP        STATUS
sda          auto:none       -            -            online invalid
sdb          auto:sliced     sdb          dg01     online
[root@ts ~]# vxdg list
NAME         STATE           ID
dg01         enabled              1263886728.28.ts.ts.com
--------------------------End Of Shell------------------------------------

It looks like I have added IDE disk as shared storage to VMs instead of SCSI disk. However, setting disk format to sliced resolved this issue for me.

Add / Remove Solaris packages automatically

2010-01-14T18:28:00.001+05:30

Those who deal with Solaris often require to install and uninstall packages. However, sometimes it becomes boredom to press ‘y’ or ‘yes’ every time we try to install or uninstall or remove multiple software packages. So if you are tired with pressing ‘y’ or ‘yes’ each and every time then simply pipe ‘yes’ CLI to ‘pkgrm’ or ‘pkgadd’ CLI in Solaris.

--------------------------Start Of Shell-----------------------------------

ts:~# yes | pkgadd –d.

ts:~# yes | pkgrm SomeSamplePacakageName

--------------------------End Of Shell------------------------------------

NOTE: Use it cautiously.

That’s it.

Follow twitter.com/techsutram account

2010-01-09T09:30:00.001+05:30

Today, I have decided to share new micro-updates from www.techsutram.com blog to new twitter account ‘twitter.com/techsutram’. As you can understand, this will help me to segregate my personal stuff from my tech blog. So follow techsutram.com on http://twitter.com/techsutram.

I will keep on posting micro-updates on my twitter ID ‘twitter.com/scimandar’. I will reserve this ID for my own stuff.

I would like to thank my followers at ‘twitter.com/scimandar’ and also hope to see them on ‘twitter.com/techsutram’ as well.

Software testing! What not to do….?

2010-01-02T19:08:00.001+05:30

There are lots of articles and books available on web that tells software test engineers what to do while testing software. However, hardly someone focuses on things that should not be done while testing the software. The thought inferred by title of this post is always untouched. So below are few points that I come up with that should not be done while testing software.

Not concentrating on automating test cases in long run
Using non-standardized tools (in your Organization) while automating test cases
Adding too many test scenarios in single automated test script that makes it difficult or cumbersome if only one of those test scenarios are failing.
Skipping pre-conditions while designing test cases that lead to ambiguity while executing a test case.
Making test cases too generic or independent so that whole workflow (of feature/module) becomes of no use
Not providing appropriate Severity/Priority to a defect in bug tracking system.
Not providing exact steps or providing ambiguous steps to reproduce a defect. These will unnecessary waste time of developer as well as software test engineer.
Not defining proper scope of software testing in test plan.
Not understanding a feature/product before executing test cases
Not able to understand or troubleshoot test-bed where feature/product being tested
Making too many assumptions while testing software product/feature
Not having user centric approach (customer focus) while testing a product/feature

I understand that these are only high level points and we can still add few more. If you want to add something to the above list then drop it in comments below.

Server Virtualization Options that are available today

2010-01-01T15:05:00.001+05:30

Virtualization! What does it mean? If you are not aware of this concept then article at http://www.kernelthread.com/publications/virtualization/ is good read.

However, below is the list of virtualization providers that I can think of.

+ VMware – VMware Player and VMware Server are one of the free products that are available. However, it requires registration. Other virtualization products are also available.

+ Xen – An open source industry standard for virtualization.

+ Citrix XenServer ( Based on Xen Hypervisor) – An enterprise-class, cloud-proven server virtualization and its free.

+ Microsoft Virtualization (Hyper-V) – It has now become part of Windows Server 2008

+ Parallels Virtuozzo - Creates isolated virtual environments (VE) or containers on a single physical server and OS instance.

+ KVM – An Open Source full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware

+ Sun VirtualBox – An Open Source virtualization product.

+ Solaris Zones, LDOMs

+ IBM PowerVM

+ OpenVZ – A container-based virtualization for Linux.

+ Linux-VServer – A virtualization for GNU/Linux systems

+ QEMU – A generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer.

+ UML – User Mode Linux

Are you aware of any other virtualization provider? Then do let everyone know in comments below.

Return from Holidays

2009-12-30T08:45:00.001+05:30

Last week was full of fun with no access to any computer ( mobile phones are exception). Hence there were no posts on this blog. I am still going through all my emails and other electronic stuff.

XSS vulnerabilities in flash files

2009-12-22T21:22:00.001+05:30

Websecurity.com.ua has post describing XSS vulnerabilities in flash files. Article XSS vulnerabilities in 8 millions flash files discusses how Action Scripts used in flash are vulnerable. Fount it as a nice read.

Read original article at: XSS vulnerabilities in 8 millions flash files

Bash shell logging technique

2009-12-16T18:04:00.001+05:30

In my previous post, Record command lines / terminal sessions on UNIX shell, we have seen the use of ‘script’ CLI to record terminal session on Unix (LINUX) platforms.

There are few other ways to monitor or logging user shell using rootsh, sudosh and ttyrec etc. However, in this post, we will utilize ‘script’ CLI to monitor or logging user’s command line shell. This is useful if you are hesitant to install any third party tool on your Unix box which is often a case in production environments.

It is fairly easy to invoke ‘script’ after user logs in. Just put following entry (colored in orange) in ‘/etc/profile’ file.

--------------------------Start Of Shell------------------------------------
ts:~# tail /etc/profile
            test -x /usr/bin/faillog && /usr/bin/faillog
        fi
    fi
esac

/usr/bin/script –a /path/to/your/$USER.txt 2>&1
exit
#
# End of /etc/profile
#
ts:~#
--------------------------End Of Shell------------------------------------

Above Two lines at the end of ‘/etc/profile’ invokes ‘script’ CLI immediately after user logs into the machine and redirecting its logged shell output to “/path/to/your/<YourUserName>.txt” file. So whatever user types or displayed at the shell prompt (terminal session) is logged automatically by default.

Be careful while utilizing this technique as once you log out and again login to the machine, your session will also get recorded immediately. So path to the file where terminal session is recorded should be carefully chosen and secured. Path specified above is for example purpose only. Considering this technique is also useful for spying or logging user shell or terminal sessions without requiring any third party tools, people securing their UNIX machines should take note of this point.

Do you use any other method to log your shell? Do let everyone know in comments below.

Record command lines / terminal sessions on UNIX shell

2009-12-15T17:17:00.001+05:30

Most of the IT professionals often need to record whatever is displayed on their windows screen using different video recording tools. However, when comes to different UNIX (LINUX, Solaris, AIX etc…) environments, sometimes it is not possible to just rely on history command output from terminal session. As history doesn’t record terminal session output of CLIs that we executed. (I am not referring to putty sessions which can also be recorded from windows using free video recording tools).

This post tries to dig into one of the known ways, but often ignored, for recording terminal session or command lines on UNIX shell.

# script test.txt
Script started, file is test.txt
# echo Hi
Hi
# echo This is a script recording.
This is a script recording.
# exit

Above ‘script’ CLI when invoked starts shell recording into test.txt file. Now ‘test.txt’ file contains all the commands or CLIs along with their output that we executed in terminal session. Below is output of ‘cat’ CLI.

# cat test.txt
Script started on Tue Dec 15 15:48:13 2009
# echo Hi
Hi
# echo This is a script recording.
This is a script recording.
# exit

Script done on Tue Dec 15 15:48:39 2009
#

However, if default shell is other than ‘sh’ then “test.txt” might contain ^M characters as below.

# vi test.txt
Script started on Tue Dec 15 15:48:13 2009
^[[?1034h^[[1m^[[31m # ^[(B^[[mecho Hi^M
Hi^M
^[[1m^[[31m # ^[(B^[[mecho This is a script recodr^H^[[K^H^[[Krding.^M
This is a script recording.^M
^[[1m^[[31m # ^[(B^[[mexit^M

Script done on Tue Dec 15 15:48:39 2009
#

Hence, ‘script’ CLI works best in environments when there is little manipulation of STDOUT. However, this can easily filtered out using ‘sed’.

In next post, we will see how to use script CLI to verbosely log all terminal session activities by default.

Effective Test Cases

2009-12-14T09:45:00.001+05:30

Often a question arise of writing effective test cases in software testing. Though writing test cases can be a easy task for SQA, it is often hard to believe that whether these are overall effective test cases. Though my previous post, Effective Software Testing in 10 steps, covers effective software testing as a broad idea, this post concentrates on guidelines for writing effective test cases.

+ Stick to software design specifications while deriving test cases. In case where design specifications are not available, work closely with respective developer. This should cover all functional test cases.

+ Start with basic or easy inputs. Try to work out product functionality first. Then go for more complex set of inputs.

+ For every test case define pre-condition

+ It would be good to write test cases as series of events rather than creating independent test cases. This will also ensure smooth workflow of events as a part of testing.

+ Try to amalgamate multiple test cases into single test cases if possible.

+ Automate as many test cases as possible. If possible and also makes sense then automate multiple test cases into a single automated test script. IMO there is no rule that states one-on-one mapping of test cases to automated test scripts.

If you have more suggestions for making test cases more effective then let everyone know in comments below.

Effective Software Testing in 10 steps

2009-12-01T16:22:00.001+05:30

I was thinking about product testing that can be performed more effectively. And here are 10 guidelines that I come up with for effective software testing. These guidelines are of course applicable once product arrives for testing. :)

Get the product’s domain knowledge E.g. if product under test is a web application then tester should know about web server, CGI, etc. If product under test supports Solaris zones then tester should know types of zones and how they work etc. This will help tester come up with different test cases.
Ensure that tester has all insights of test-bed. This will ensure that tester understands the environment where product will be tested. Sometimes changing system parameters (on test-bed) can severely affect product.
Define Test plan for ultimate goal of testing. E.g. test plan should state clearly if tests requires white box testing along with black box testing.
It is also important that test plan states overall scope of test cycle (I am not covering all granularities of test plan). Scope should cover different types of testing that can be performed over entire product testing cycle.
Develop test cases to cover all functionality of product under test. It is always helpful to get inputs from developer who has developed the feature while coming up with different test cases. Ensure that negative test cases are also covered along functional test cases. E.g. In case of network application what if there is loss in network connection? Does application crash due to sudden network disruptions?
Never ignore security test cases.
Keep all matrices in hand to measure continued progress of software testing. This should not be the only task of Test Leads or Managers. A tester should measure his individual performance to fine tune his performance. Graphical representation of these matrices using simple tools such as excel will provide a helpful insight.
Automate as many test cases as possible if feature is well stabilized. Freeze on automation tool well in advance that will be used by all team members. It will be helpful to include name of automation tool in test plan itself. Tester should not try to automate a feature which is under development ( Not valid in case of unit testing). Due to constant changes during development of a particular feature, it wouldn’t make any sense to automate test cases and waste valuable time.
While executing performance testing cycle, get all the numbers in advance for a product under test. E.g. during load testing what will be the maximum load (e.g. number of users allowed) that application can handle, should be known in advance. During stress testing, ensure that exact breaking point of application is noted.
Compatibility testing is also important and should be aligned with environment where customer will possibly deploy the product.

Though above guidelines do not cover each and every aspect of software testing, still it provides broad picture of what needs to be done. Do you have any more inputs to add then let everyone know in comments below.

Cyber terrorism – a must watch video from CBS news

2009-11-25T21:43:00.001+05:30

A video depicting cyber terrorism threat was publish under 60 minutes on CBS news. The only message it sends out loud and clear is Cyber terrorism threat has become real out of theories.

Developing countries that started exposing their critical systems to computer networks (connected to Internet) have to care about cyber terrorism right from beginning than spending billions to fix the issue which possibly they might not able to afford.

Below is a video that I have embedded from CBS news site. (NOTE: I have embedded this video as it allows anyone to embed it on their webpage)

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications – a free ebook

2009-11-22T14:45:00.003+05:30

People who are interested in software performance testing might find this post very useful. This book is one of the best guides that I found so for new as well as professional software (performance) testers.

Though this ebook titles for performance testing of Web applications, it can be applicable to other kinds of applications as well. IMO It covers mostly everything about performance testing.

It can be downloaded from http://perftestingguide.codeplex.com/

Print copy of this book also available at Amazon.com

VMware Virtual to Physical (V2P) migration

2009-11-22T12:00:00.001+05:30

We all know that it is possible to migrate from Physical machine to Virtual Machine (P2V migration). (If someone is not aware of it then look at a free tool from VMware called vCenter Convertor). That is what most of us used to do to consolidate data center from physical to virtual environment.

However, recently, I had a requirement to migrate Virtual machine to Physical machine (V2P migration). And while googling, I found a whitepaper from VMware Virtual Machine to Physical Machine Migration.

I was impressed by what I found and planning to test it if time permits. If someone has gone through Virtual Machine to Physical Machine Migration (V2P migration) then please share your experience in comments below.

Blogger customized templates are broken

2009-11-18T10:17:00.001+05:30

This is a note for the readers of www.TechSutram.com

Today morning, it is observed that there are misalignments of different columns on this blog. I have tried to restore my backup template but it seems that customized templates on blogger are broken. As this blog is hosted on blogger platform and relies on blogger templates solely for its layout, there is nothing much I can do to rectify this issue.

Interestingly, all layouts and alignments are perfectly visible from Mozilla Firefox browser and misalignment issue lies only with Microsoft Internet Explorer. It seems that blogger team is already aware of this issue and they are investigating this issue http://knownissues.blogspot.com/search/label/outstanding.

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse this blog and you are able to see this blog properly then let me know in the comments section below.

OpenSUSE 11.1 and Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG not working

2009-11-16T01:28:00.001+05:30

I had a strange problem when Wireless card on one of my laptops with OpenSuse Linux 11.1 was replaced.

Originally, all network connections were under control of KDE Network Manger (knetworkmanager). However, after replacing old wireless card with PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, KDE network manager stopped working. It was able to detect my wireless connection, however, it couldn’t able to connect to my Wireless ESSID. I tried rebooting my OpenSuse Linux 11.1 laptop still it was unable to connect.

Eventually I was able to resolve this issue. What I did was not very special but it did work. I put my network under traditional network using YAST. YAST prompted me to install few required packages (only one in my case). After that I configured my wireless connection using traditional network using YAST and I was able to connect my Wireless ESSID successfully. Once I got my wireless connection working, I put my network back under Network manager again. This procedure has resolved my issue and I was able to connect my wireless connection using KDE network manager in OpenSuse Linux 11.1

This procedure has worked for me. I am not sure if it is going to work for everyone else depending on their unique configuration. However, it might help to troubleshoot this issue with their PRO/Wireless 3945ABG card.

Google Dashboard : About us with Google

2009-11-05T16:59:00.001+05:30

Google has provided Dashbord to display all information it has about one's Google ID and Google Apps connected to it. At least now I know how many of Google products I personally use and my identity (information) linked to it.

Try Google Dashboard with your Google ID @ https://www.google.com/dashboard/

Mounting NFS share hangs on VMware ESX server

2009-11-02T20:39:00.001+05:30

I just happened to face very trivial issue while mounting NFS share on VMware ESX box. I did verify NFS exports on NFS server and NFS service was indeed running on NFS server.

Also verified that “nfsClient” service is enabled in ESX firewall using esxcfg-firewall CLI.

[root@esx35 root]# esxcfg-firewall --enableService nfsClient

Still I couldn’t able to mount NFS share on VMware ESX and mount command was hanged or stuck.

[root@esx35 root]# mount –t nfs nfs-server:/share /mnt/share

After bit of troubleshooting, it was found that “portmap” service was down by default. So after enabling “portmap” service, mount CLI succeeded in mounting NFS share.

[root@esx35 root]# /etc/init.d/portmap status
portmap is stopped
[root@esx35 root]# /etc/init.d/portmap restart
Stopping portmapper: [FAILED]
Starting portmapper: [ OK ][root@esx35 root]#mount –t nfs nfs-server:/share /mnt/share[root@esx35 root]#echo $?
0

Continuing Google Friend Connect toolbar and removing Google Follower widget

2009-11-01T01:15:00.001+05:30

It seems people visiting this blog facing confusion whether to join this blog using Google Friend Connect toolbar or Follow this blog using Google Follower widget.

Hence, today, I have decided to remove Google Follower widget and made a decision to continue with Google Friend Connect toolbar at the bottom. Sincere apologies for this confusion.

How to enable SSH on VMware ESX 3.5?

2009-10-30T16:12:00.001+05:30

When VMware ESX 3.5 is installed on fresh machine then it was observed that by default SSH is not active or machine is inaccessible using SSH protocol.

I understand that VMware ESX 3.5 is older release of VMware ESX, however, below steps someone might find useful to solve this issue.

After logging into VMware ESX 3.5 box as root, execute following commands to enable sshClient and sshServer services inside ESX firewall.

[root@esx35 root]# esxcfg-firewall -s
Known services: activeDirectorKerberos caARCserve CIMHttpServer CIMHttpsServer CIMSLP commvaultDynamic commvaultStatic ftpClient ftpServer kerberos LDAP LDAPS legatoNetWorker LicenseClient nfsClient nisClient ntpClient smbClient snmpd sshClient sshServer swISCSIClient symantecBackupExec symantecNetBackup telnetClient TSM updateManager VCB vncServer vpxHeartbeats

[root@esx35 root]# esxcfg-firewall --enableService sshClient
[root@esx35 root]# esxcfg-firewall --enableService sshServer

Also ‘/etc/ssh/sshd_config’ file should have ‘PermitRootLogin’ set to yes if someone wants to have remote SSH access for root account.

[root@esx35 root]# cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config | grep -i Root
PermitRootLogin yes
[root@esx35 root]# /etc/init.d/sshd restart

This should allow root user to access VMware ESX box remotely using SSH.

TechSutram(*/*=1)

Load Testing Vs Stress Testing

Whitepaper on “hacking oracle from the web”

Operation Aurora exploit in Google Attack

Twitter is over capacity

Windows PowerShell – a free eBook from Microsoft

Invalid disk device for 'cdsdisk’ error

Add / Remove Solaris packages automatically

Follow twitter.com/techsutram account

Software testing! What not to do….?

Server Virtualization Options that are available today

Return from Holidays

XSS vulnerabilities in flash files

Bash shell logging technique

Record command lines / terminal sessions on UNIX shell

Effective Test Cases

Effective Software Testing in 10 steps

Cyber terrorism – a must watch video from CBS news

Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications – a free ebook

VMware Virtual to Physical (V2P) migration

Related articles by Zemanta

Blogger customized templates are broken

OpenSUSE 11.1 and Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG not working

Related articles by Zemanta

Google Dashboard : About us with Google

Mounting NFS share hangs on VMware ESX server

Related articles by Zemanta

Continuing Google Friend Connect toolbar and removing Google Follower widget

How to enable SSH on VMware ESX 3.5?

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TechSutram(/=1)